Page 591 — Algorithms & Algebra

I kind of embarrassed myself when I played my first Adventurer's League game of 5e up at GameStorm. I was plenty early, and I thought, "Hey, instead of picking up one of the prefabs, I can borrow a full Player's Handbook and create my own level 1 character to use in the game!"

About an hour and a half later, I picked up a prefab Cleric and went back to the table. 5e may be sleek, but I'm still used to character builders, and character creation is still non-trivial.

DM: Why and how.
Rainbow Dash: We use our stuff so rarely! And then I was really tired this week, so… I guess… I didn't think about it?
DM: Geez…
Applejack: Look, Level 8 ain't a big deal anyway. More HP, two ability points, and a feat. You can do most of that by hand!
Rainbow Dash: Um, I usually just let the program do it for me…
Applejack: <sigh> Lemme think. So, the HP boost depends on your class…
Twilight Sparkle: +6 HP per additional level for Barbarians!
Applejack: Rrrright, so add 6 there. Since we're up another level divided by 2, all your skills go up by one. Then if you add your ability points to Strength and Dex, Strength hits 20, so all your Strength-based skills go up by another one. We can pick out the feat later, but that should be it!
Twilight Sparkle: Your Fortitude also increases by one due to the Strength modifier!
Applejack: Okay, I can see why you like the builder so much.